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OU Olympians: Abraham Ancer Will Play for Team Mexico

Former Oklahoma golf All-American who helped coach Ryan Hybl lay a championship foundation hopes to become the first Mexican golfer to medal.
John E. Hoover|
OU Olympians: Abraham Ancer Will Play for Team Mexico
OU Olympians: Abraham Ancer Will Play for Team Mexico

Former Oklahoma men's golfer Abraham Ancer is headed to Tokyo.

Ancer, an OU All-American in 2011, will play for Team Mexico in next month’s Tokyo Games. Ancer finished the qualifiying period as the top-ranked Mexican golfer.

Ancer, who wore the Crimson and Cream from 2010-13, earned his PGA Tour card in 2018 and has become one of the top players in the world, sitting at No. 23 in the World Golf Rankings.

He’ll be the first OU men's or women's golfer to compete in the Olympic Games. Players will tee off July 29 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan, in a four-round competition.

“I’m looking forward (to the Olympics) a lot," Ancer told Golf.com earlier this year. "I know it's still ways away from that, but it's something that I always wanted to do. Any chance I can get to play for my country or as a team, I just enjoy it so much. I think it's going to be another great experience.”

Ancer was part of the final group at the 2020 Masters and finished tied for 13th, then took eighth at the 2021 PGA Championship in May.

The Reynosa, Mexico, product has two professional wins: the 2018 Emirates Australian Open and the 2015 Nova Scotia Open.

Ancer played for Team Mexico at the 2018 World Cup of Golf as Mexico finished runner-up to Belgium. In 2019, Ancer scored a team-leading 3.5 points for the International Team at the 2019 President's Cup. His only loss against the U.S. squad was to Tiger Woods.

Ancer’s 21-under 195 at the 2011 Desert Shootout is still a school record, and his career scoring average of 72.42 is 10th all-time in OU history.

Ancer told Golf.com that playing in the Olympics would be like a “fifth major. … It's different because I didn't grow up really thinking about the Olympics for golf. Never been part of it. But now that it is, definitely a big deal. Huge deal.”

Golf was an Olympic sport in 1904 but was removed from competition for 112 years before the IOC reinstated it in 2016.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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